House Dems Eyeing a Plan to Replace Troubled PPP: Report
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House Dems Eyeing a Plan to Replace Troubled PPP: Report

House Democrats are coalescing around a plan to replace the problem-plagued Paycheck Protection Program for small businesses with an expanded program offering grants covering 100% of workers’ salaries and benefits, The Washington Posts’ Tory Newmyer reports:

“The proposal borrows from similar programs that Western European and Asian countries have already implemented to keep employees on the payrolls of damaged businesses. It aims to replace the relief the troubled Paycheck Protection Program has provided small businesses and expand it to businesses of all sizes, while cutting out banks as middlemen.

“And it stands a strong chance of making it into an economic rescue package House Democratic leaders are racing to assemble and roll out in the coming days, Democratic lawmakers and top aides say. ‘It has picked up an enormous amount of momentum very quickly,’ Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash,), who is spearing the effort, tells me.”

The plan would be retroactive to March 1, Newmyer adds, allowing businesses to rehire laid-off workers. An analysis by Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi projects the program would cost a net $654 billion, including savings from having fewer jobless people rely on unemployment benefits and Medicaid.

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